If the John Kerry I just saw on CSPAN is the one that runs for president

[Renew Deal]

He will win. He was strong, sensible, direct, presidential, likeable and tough. That was a great performance. I remember not long ago when he was on MTP. He was falling asleep at the wheel and spinning like a top. This is a far cry from that.

[BootinUp]

1. I didn't see that at all

He does not get me excited about our prospects at all.

[Julien Sorel]

2. Kerry has a strong tendency to coast, and then

put on a burst of speed: when he's on, he's very impressive with his height, his shock of hair, and his rhetorical ability. When he's coasting, he comes across as lethargic and aloof. In a general election he's going to find it hard to coast at all, because the media will crucify him for it. It's one of my concerns about a Kerry candidacy.

[Nashyra]

3. Who are the assholes who are

being allowed to interupt Clark.

100.00
id29635

[isbister]

4. Probably LaRouche people n/t

[BringEmOn]

21. One was holding a Kerry sign earlier

The long haired white boy was waving a Kerry sign while Kerry was speaking (1:03:30 in replay)

Copy and paste into Realplayer:

rtsp://video.c-span.org/project/c04/c04020704_vadinner.rm

The Black guy was given the bum's rush, but the white boy wasn't removed.

[sistersofmercy]

5. Probably Larouche people

That sucks! Clark looks and sounds very good tonight inspite of the rude interruption.

[Johnyawl]

19. he better not

I read in an article right after Iowa (for which I have no link) that the republican startegist that worked for Weld in '96 said that John Kerry was the best 'closer' he'd ever seen; that the last three weeks of a campaign are his best. yup, sounds like he coasts, and then sprints. He can't afford to do that against rove.

[ShaneGR]

6. Yes, he was very good. Very strong.

I was impressed. He really has developed into a VERY formidable speaker. A far cry from mid-last year

[bigtree]

7. Aloof

http://www.returningsoldiers.us/Aloof.htm

[Gin]

8. Kerry needs to come up with something more than his viet nam

service and how bad shrub is...tell us what he plans to do.
I am sick of the viet nam references already..

[Leilani]

9. If you're sick of it now,

imagine how sick of it you will be in November?

[bigtree]

10. These folk's need to be heard. They need a strong voice at the top

* Vietnam Vets: 9.7% of their generation.

* 9.087.000 military personnel served on active duty during the Vietnam era (Aug. 5, 1964-May 7, 1975).

* 8.744.000 Gls were on active duty during the war (Aug. 5, 1964-March 28, 1973).

* 3,403,100 (including 514,300 offshore) personnel served in the Southeast Asia Theater (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, flight crews based in Thailand, and sailors in adjacent South China Sea waters). · 2,594,000 personnel served within the borders of South Vietnam (Jan. 1, 1965 - March 28, 1973).

* Another 50,000 men served in Vietnam between 1960 and 1964.>

* Of the 2.6 million, between 1-1.6 million (40-60%) either fought in combat, provided close support or were at least fairly regularly exposed to enemy attack.

* 7,484 women (6,250 or 83.5% were nurses) served in Vietnam.

* Peak troop strength in Vietnam: 543,482 (April 30, 1969).

* Hostile deaths: 47,378.

* Non-hostile deaths: 10,800.

* Total: 58,202 (includes men formerly classified as MIA and Mayaguez casualties). Men who have subsequently died of wounds account for the changing total.

* 8 nurses died--1 was KIA.

* Married men killed: 17,539

* 61% of the men killed were 21 or younger.

* Highest state death rate: West Virginia - 84.1 (national average 58.9 for every 100,000 males in 1970).

* Wounded: 303,704 -- 153,329 hospitalized + 150,375 injured requiring no hospital care.

* Severely disabled: 75,000--23,214 100% disabled; 5,283 lostlimbs; 1,081 sustained multiple amputations.

* Amputation or crippling wounds to the lower extremities were 300% higher than in WWII and 70% higher than in Korea. Multiple amputations occurred at the rate of 18.4% compared to 5.7% in WWII.

* Missing in Action: 2,338.

* POWs: 766 (114 died in captivity).


* 25% (648,500) of total forces in country were draftees.

* Draftees accounted for 30.4% (17,725) of combat deaths in Vietnam. · Reservists killed: 5,977.

* National Guard: 6,140 served; 101 died.

* Total draftees (1965-73): 1,728,344.

* Actually served in Vietnam: 38%.

* Marine Corps draft: 42,633.

* Last man drafted: June 30, 1973.

* 88.4% of the men who actually served in Vietnam were Caucasian, 10.6% (275,000) were black; 1% belonged to other races.

* 86.3% of the men who died in Vietnam were Caucasian (includes Hispanics); 12.5% (7,241) were black; 1.2% belonged to other races.

* 170,000 Hispanics served in Vietnam; 3,070 (5.2% of total) died there.

* 70% of enlisted men killed were of North-west European descent.

* 86.8% of the men who were killed as a result of hostile action were Caucasian; 12.1% (5,711)were black; 1.1% belonged to other races.

* 14.6% (1.530) of non-combat deaths were among blacks.

* 34% of blacks who enlisted volunteered for the combat arms.

* Overall, blacks suffered 12.5% of the deaths in Vietnam at a time when the percentage of blacks of military age was 13.5% of the total population.

* Religion of Dead: Protestant--64.4%; Catholic--28.9%; other/none--6.7%.

* 76% of the men sent to Vietnam were from lower middle/working class backgrounds.

* Three-fourths had family incomes above the poverty level; 50% were from middle income backgrounds.

* Some 23% of Vietnam vets had fathers with professional, managerial or technical occupations.

* 79% of the men who served in Vietnam had a high school education or better when they entered the military service. (63% of Korean War vets and only 45% of WWII vets had completed high school upon separation.)

* Deaths by region per 100,000 of population: South-31, West-29.9; Midwest-28.4; Northeast-23.5.

* 82% of veterans who saw heavy combat strongly believe the war was lost because of lack of political will.

* Nearly 75% of the public agrees it was a failure of political will, not of arms.

* 97% of Vietnam-era veterans were honorably discharged.

* 91% of actual Vietnam War veterans and 90% of those who saw heavy combat are proud to have served their country.

* 66% of Vietnam vets say they would serve again if called upon.

* 87% of the public now holds Vietnam veterans in high esteem.

[diamond14]

13. and the Vietnam Veterans families...my cousin was KILLED in

Vietnam...many of my friends were permanently disabled...some came back as heroin addicts and died after the war, but never got over the war....

it's time now...time for the Vietnam-era people to BOOT BUSH, because we KNOW what AWOL means and we know a deserter, and we KNOW what bush/cheney and all their minions are...and those chicken-hawks have destroyed OUR military, and KILLED OUR YOUNG SOLDIERS for nothing....

and it was JOHN KERRY who made Vietnam Soldiers proud once again to be Americans....and it will be JOHN KERRY who shows America that the deserter in the White House needs to leave....

and it will be JOHN KERRY who leads us out of Iraq and keeps us out of any further wars.....

[oasis]

14. Thanks for posting those stats. (eom)

[bigtree]

11. johnkerry,com

http;//www.johnkerry.com

[diamond14]

12. read more about Kerry and you'll learn quickly what a GREAT

President Kerry will be....in early campaigning, he rarely talked about Vietnam...but that is what is HOT now, because of the Iraq war and all OUR soldiers being KILLED and INJURED by bush*....

so read more about Kerry and his plans here....

http://www.JohnKerry.com

[sandnsea]

16. On the Issues

Saying that he isn't talking about what he'd do doesn't make it the truth. Just like when RW pundits get on TV and say Democrats are only running a hate Bush campaign. Doesn't make it true. Here's what he'd do, he's been saying it for over a year and actually working on these issues for years.

http://www.johnkerry.com/issues/

[TheStateChief]

20. Yep, Vietnam is his default response

to just about every question he faces that relates to Iraq, national security, or the armed forces. It is already tired but I'm looking forward to his new lines of attack.

[WiseMen]

15. Guess he had more sleep than usual. Clark needs some more sleep too.

[blm]

18. No kidding. The first thing I think of when I hear something a bit off

is, "Man, that guy sounds SO tired" or "He wouldn't have said that if wasn't so tired."

Poor guys. Oh well.

[Crunchy Frog]

17. I sure as Hell

hope so.

Although I'll be broken hearted if Clark doesn't get the nom (looking increasingly likely:-( ), if Kerry gets it I hope to God he's got what it takes to beat Shrub.